Material master data cleansing: a field-by-field checklist
Material master data cleansing checklist: what to check in each field, the error signal, the source that confirms the right value and who decides the fix.
Material master data cleansing works best when every group of fields in the record has three agreed answers: which error signal a query can find, which source confirms the correct value, and who decides the fix. Without those answers, teams correct by opinion and the error comes back. Below is the field-by-field checklist we use as a starting point.
An open spreadsheet, four thousand rows, a meeting at ten. The master data analyst filters the NCM column (the Mercosur product classification code used in Brazil) and finds the same material with two different codes, one per plant. He asks who knows which one is right. The buyer says it belongs to tax. The tax team says they need the technical data sheet. Engineering says the data sheet is "somewhere on the network drive".
The meeting ends without a single correction. Nobody lacked goodwill. Nobody had agreed in advance where the proof for each field lived and who would sign off on it.
What is material master data cleansing?
Material master data cleansing is the review of each item's master record to remove duplicates, standardize descriptions, correct classifications and complete attributes from a reliable source, before or after loading into the ERP. The full method is on 4MDG's material master data cleansing page; this article focuses on what to check inside the record.
In SAP, the material master record organizes data by user department (purchasing, inventory, accounting, sales and others). SAP documentation notes that the material description and the base unit of measure are mandatory and apply equally to all departments, and that the system keeps the deletion flag, who set it, and change documents (SAP Help, Material Master Record). Which fields appear on each screen depends on industry sector, material type and organizational level (SAP Help, Screen Sequence and Field Selection), a topic we cover in the post on SAP material master views and required fields.
What should you check in each field of the material record?
The table below is the core of the checklist. Each row is a group of fields. The "error signal" column lists something you can find with a query or a simple rule, without opening items one by one. The "source" column says where the proof of the correct value lives. The last column says who signs off on the fix.
| Field group | What to check | Error signal a query or rule can find | Source that confirms the correct value | Who decides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identification and material type | Whether the material type matches how the item is actually used (trading goods, consumables, spare parts, raw materials) | Items in the same family under different types; the same part number registered under different types | Requisition, purchase order and consumption history; the company's definition of material types | Master data team, with the user department |
| Short description and long text | Whether the description follows the company standard and the long text does not contradict it | Description starting with a brand, abbreviations outside the approved list, terms like "MISC" or "SEE TEXT"; empty long text on a technical item | The company's description standard (PDM) and the item's data sheet | Master data team (standard); engineering or maintenance (technical data) |
| Material group or family | Whether the group matches what the item is | The same noun in different groups; a generic "other" group holding many items | The company's current taxonomy | Master data team, with purchasing |
| Base unit of measure | Whether the unit matches how the item is stored and consumed | Different units for items in the same family; an item sold by the meter registered as a piece | Data sheet, manufacturer packaging, how the warehouse issues the item | Master data team, with warehouse and procurement |
| Manufacturer and part number | Whether they sit in their own fields, not only inside the description | Part number written in the description while the field is empty; letter O instead of zero; the same manufacturer spelled several ways | Manufacturer catalog, equipment nameplate, supplier documents | Engineering or maintenance |
| NCM (Brazil) | Whether the code exists in the current table, is the same across plants and is consistent with the description | Code with fewer than 8 digits; code missing from the current table; the same material with a different NCM per plant; a chapter unrelated to the item | NCM table checked in the Classif system (Brazilian government); data sheet to understand the product | Tax department |
| Purchasing (purchasing group, purchase order text) | Whether the purchasing group exists and is active, and whether the PO text describes the item without contradicting the record | Purchasing group of a buyer who has left the company; empty PO text on a technical item; PO text with a specification different from the description | Current purchasing structure; data sheet | Purchasing |
| Accounting (valuation class) | Whether the valuation class is consistent with the material type and group | Items of the same type and group in different valuation classes | Valuation criteria defined by the controlling team | Controlling |
| Weight and dimensions | Whether gross weight, net weight, weight unit and dimensions are filled in and make sense | Net weight greater than gross; zero weight on a physical item; wrong order of magnitude (grams stored as kilograms) | Data sheet, manufacturer data, physical weighing | Logistics or warehouse |
| Status, block and deletion flag | Whether the status reflects the item's real life | Item blocked or flagged for deletion with stock or open purchase orders; item without movement for years and no flag at all | Movement history, open orders, record of who set the flag | Item's owning department, with the master data team |
| Attachments and data sheets | Whether technical items have an attached, readable data sheet for the right model | Technical item without attachment; broken link; data sheet for another model or an old revision | Manufacturer and engineering | Engineering or maintenance |
Two SAP details help read the table: the responsible purchasing group sits in the purchasing data, per plant, and the material type defines which valuation classes are possible (SAP Learning, Creating Material Master Records for Purchasing). That is why the purchasing group query runs per plant, and the valuation class query compares items of the same type.
Two notes on the table. First: plant-level MRP data (planning, lot size, lead time) has its own owners and logic and is handled separately. Second: duplicates are not a row because they are earlier work, explained in the post on how to identify duplicate materials. Cleansing the fields of an item that will be blocked as a duplicate is wasted effort.
Description: check compliance, do not rewrite here
In the checklist, the description question is just one: does it follow the standard? If not, the item goes into the standardization queue. How to build that standard (noun, qualifier, attributes) is covered in the guide on how to write material descriptions.
NCM: master data flags it, tax decides
NCM is a Brazilian requirement. Brazil's Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) explains that the NCM is an 8-digit code based on the Harmonized System, with just over 10,000 codes, searchable through NCM Online in the Classif system (Receita Federal, NCM, in Portuguese). The master data team can verify format, existence in the current table and consistency across plants. Choosing the code is the decision of the company's tax department.
What can be fixed in bulk and what needs a human eye?
Not every fix needs someone opening items one at a time. Our rule is simple: if the fix can be derived from a structured source without interpretation, it goes in bulk. If it depends on understanding what the item is, it needs a person with evidence in hand.
Fixed in bulk by rule
- Format: double spaces, swapped characters in part numbers, inconsistent upper and lower case.
- Manufacturer spelling, when there is an approved list of names to map against.
- Purchasing group of an inactive buyer, when purchasing defines the replacement group.
- Wrong weight unit, when the order of magnitude gives the error away and the owning department confirms the rule.
- Flagging items without movement, after the owning department approves the criterion.
Needs a human eye with evidence
- Material type and material group, when the item can be read more than one way.
- NCM: the query finds the invalid or inconsistent code; tax chooses the right one.
- Valuation class: controlling decides, because it affects how inventory is posted in accounting.
- Base unit of measure of an item with movement history.
- Any field where the only source is "it has always been like this".
The minimum record for each fix
Every fix, bulk or manual, leaves a trail. At a minimum:
- Previous value and new value;
- Source that justified the change (data sheet, catalog, Classif lookup, approved rule);
- Who approved it;
- Date of approval and of the update.
The ERP keeps change documents, but they show what changed, not why. The source and the approval must be recorded in the cleansing process. When the auditor asks, the answer is ready.
What does an item look like before and after the checklist?
HYPOTHETICAL example, built to illustrate the checklist. It is not a customer case.
| Field | Before | Signal found | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short description | BRG. MANUFACTURER X 6205 SEE TEXT | Starts with an abbreviation, names a brand, points to the long text | Description rewritten to the company standard |
| Manufacturer and part number | Empty fields; data only in the description | Part number inside the description | Manufacturer and part number in their own fields, checked against the manufacturer catalog |
| Material group | MISC | Generic group | Bearings group from the current taxonomy |
| Base unit of measure | BOX | Warehouse issues it by piece | Piece, confirmed by the warehouse |
| NCM | One code at plant A, another at plant B | Inconsistency across plants | Single code set by tax after checking Classif |
| Weight | Net greater than gross | Weight consistency rule | Weights checked against the data sheet |
| Attachments | None | Technical item without data sheet | Manufacturer data sheet attached |
Each "after" line went into the correction log with previous value, new value, source, approver and date.
Where should you start the checklist?
- Define the scope. The order of items comes from prioritization; the post on ABC prioritization for master data cleansing shows how to choose.
- Extract the table's fields from the ERP for that scope, per plant when the field is plant-level.
- Run the queries in the "error signal" column and count how many items hit each rule.
- Agree with each department who decides and which source counts, before fixing the first item.
- Separate bulk fixes from items that need human review and open the correction log.
- Fix, update and measure again. To track progress, use the indicators in the post on how to measure master data quality.
- Put the rule at the point of entry so the fixed error does not return. 4MDG's cleansing method ends with this governance step.
Frequently asked questions
Can you cleanse material master data without stopping operations?
Yes. The work runs on an extract, fixes are approved outside the ERP and updates are applied in batches agreed with each department. Items with active orders or stock movement need more care in the update window, but purchasing and the warehouse keep working.
How much of the checklist can be automated?
Detection can be almost fully automated: the rules in the "error signal" column run as queries. Automatic correction works for format, approved mappings and rules signed off by the owning department. Tax classification, material type and valuation class stay with human decision.
Is cleansing the same as data migration?
No. Migration moves data from one system to another; cleansing corrects the content. You can migrate without cleansing (and carry the errors along) or cleanse without migrating, directly in the current ERP. When there is a migration, cleansing usually comes before the load.
Who should own the NCM correction?
The tax department. The master data team flags codes that are invalid, missing or inconsistent across plants and gathers the data sheet; tax chooses the code and signs the approval, which is kept in the correction log.
What should you do with a field nobody knows how to fill in?
First, find out whether any process uses the field. If not, the decision to leave it empty must be recorded by the owning department. If it is used, the missing owner becomes a governance issue: someone has to be named before any value is stored. Making up a value to close the spreadsheet creates a new error.
Do you need to cleanse every field of every item?
No: depth and order come from prioritization, and the progress of each stage can be tracked with master data quality indicators.
How 4MDG can help
4MDG cleanses material master data item by item: it removes duplicates, standardizes descriptions using PDM, classifies items in NCM and UNSPSC, normalizes units of measure and packaging, and enriches technical attributes before loading into the ERP, which can be SAP ECC or S/4HANA, via API, IDoc, BAPI or file. See how the material cleansing service works. If you want to know where your catalog stands today, request the free catalog assessment: no commitment and nothing to install, it shows duplicates, empty attributes and inconsistent classification.
Sources
- SAP Help Portal. "Material Master Record". https://help.sap.com/saphelp_me60/helpdata/en/46/c3b853dcfcb44ce10000000a174cb4/content.htm. Accessed on October 26, 2026.
- SAP Help Portal. "Screen Sequence and Field Selection". https://help.sap.com/saphelp_me60/helpdata/en/dc/14c453f57eb44ce10000000a174cb4/content.htm. Accessed on October 26, 2026.
- SAP Learning. "Creating Material Master Records for Purchasing". https://learning.sap.com/courses/purchasing-in-sap-s-4hana/creating-material-master-records-for-purchasing. Accessed on October 26, 2026.
- Receita Federal (Brazil's Federal Revenue Service). "NCM" (in Portuguese). https://www.gov.br/receitafederal/pt-br/assuntos/aduana-e-comercio-exterior/classificacao-fiscal-de-mercadorias/ncm. Accessed on October 26, 2026.
- Portal Único Siscomex (Brazilian government). "Classif system". https://portalunico.siscomex.gov.br/classif/. Accessed on October 26, 2026.
The tax classification of each material is a decision for the company's tax department. This article covers the master data review process, not tax rules.